A beautiful second chance romance with some serious forced proximity! Five years after Brighton left Charlotte at the altar, they end up staying with the same family at Christmas and are forced to confront their painful past.

This was definitely not the lighthearted holiday romance that I expected! Charlotte and Brighton are both deeply flawed and it was frustrating at times to read their poor decisions, but it was also amazing to see them grow throughout the book. I also really loved the lessons in friendship this book imparted! 

Overall, it was a bit of a heavier book than I expected, but Ashley Herring Blake just does such an incredible job of making things feel so raw and real that I can’t even be mad about it 🤷🏼‍♀️ she is quickly becoming an auto-read author for me and I’d recommend her books always!

While dystopian isn’t my typical genre, I really enjoyed this one! It was fast paced and engaging, and I loved the dual POV. The societal need for productivity hit a little TOO hard at times, but there was such a beautiful message of hope and the need to slow down and enjoy what life and nature has to offer!

AH I am absolute mush after this read in the best way possible 🥰 I fell in love with Coal and Hex immediately, and I loved the emotional journey they took me on! This book was so much more than I expected - yes it was a goofy holiday romcom, but it was also filled with political intrigue and personal growth and just so much hope! 

But also.. The tension between Coal and Hex was absolutely delicious, I could not get enough. The spice was perfectly balanced with the tension, and I ate it up. Once it sucked me in, I absolutely could not put it down and loved every second of reading it!

What a beautiful story of grief and its various forms of expression. While this book absolutely delivered on my expectations for a heart wrenching exploration of grief, there were some darker undertones that I didn’t expect as characters moved through their experience of loss in different ways, not all of which were healthy. 

Saika was a harsh, withdrawn character who slowly softened and opened herself up to others, and seeing her grow and learn to accept herself and her mistakes was really wonderful. Honestly all of the characters are endearing in their own quirky ways - the found family vibes are strong in this one! There’s an especially clear message of the power of community and sharing your burdens with others, and this shows up in multiple ways for different characters. 

This book was a beautiful reminder that there is no one way to grieve the loss of a loved one, and that sharing about your loss may not be as painful as you expect.

A beautiful story of love and life after loss, and the journey through grief. 

The pain in this story is so palpable the entire way through, at times you almost feel like you are lost in the haze of grief along with Eric. His story is so heart wrenching and I found myself in tears multiple times throughout the book. While I was left with some questions at the end, the emotion put into this book is so clearly felt and I would absolutely recommend to anyone familiar with grief and loss (but make sure you have a box of tissues nearby)

I am UNWELL after this. I have always loved Mische, and getting to know her on such a deep level in this book was magical. There are heavy themes of religious trauma and grooming as we begin to unravel Mische’s story, and it just made my heart ache for her. 

Enter Asar: the exiled bastard son of the King of the Shadowborn, and my newest morally grey love. Immediately you can feel the connection between them, and it’s like a live wire the entire book. The way that this man is so gentle and caring, helping Mische heal in so many ways, is just so beautiful to witness. I feel so connected to Mische’s character and this felt like a book that spoke to my heart and soul. 

I loved the Dante’s Inferno parallels in this book - it felt so dark and raw in the best way. The journey down to the underworld was so intriguing, and felt reminiscent of the Kejari trials from Serpent and the Wings of Night. I was hooked from the first page and I can’t believe that we are left with yet another wild cliffhanger! 🫠

Two self sacrificing people spend an entire book sacrificing themselves for each other 🫠

But in all seriousness, I LOVED this! The vibes were absolutely immaculate - think Bridgerton meets Ghibli with a side of magic and political unrest. Oh, and SO. MUCH. YEARNING. I just love it.

Niamh is such a wonderful character, and I resonated with her so much. She is someone who has spent her entire life making herself smaller or pushing aside her needs for other people. She loves fiercely, and Kit is such a great match for her. They complemented each other so well, and I loved the way they challenged the other and their viewpoints. Plus, y’all know I love a grumpy x sunshine pairing and Allison Saft does it so so well!

Along with Niamh and Kit, the side characters were really great! Sinclair and Rosa were such  intriguing and complex additions to the story, and I felt like they really rounded things out. 

The audiobook narrator was also phenomenal - she brought so much life to all of the characters, and her accents were fantastic. I really loved listening to this story!

This was such an intriguing story! I loved the closed-circle type setting where they are on an expedition at the time of the murder and therefore the murderer MUST be one of them. 

I read this at the same time as A Fragile Enchantment (also by Allison Saft), and it was really interesting to see the parallels in the writing style! The author loves a good grumpy x sunshine pairing, which is also one of my favorites!

Lorelai was a very flawed character that was hard to like but easy to sympathize with. She constantly feels like everyone is out to get her and refuses to acknowledge when people reach out a hand. Sylvia on the other hand was her opposite in so many ways - she loves very freely and openly it seems and refuses to dampen her joy just because others may not understand it! She was also very complex in the sense that she appeared to be a bit gullible or naive on the surface, but there is a lot more to her than you expect. 

There were heavy themes of marginalized and oppressed communities, as well as generational trauma and familial expectations, and I found these were addressed really well. I think this book definitely could have been a bit longer - I would have loved more insight into everyone's backstories and the politics, as I was left with some questions about the characters and their choices.

Overall, a really enjoyable read with lots of sapphic yearning and moody vibes!

Okay this book had me in an absolute CHOKEHOLD (pun intended 😏) for the first half. I’m not normally a huge fan of dark/taboo romance, but this felt almost satirical? It was fun and kinda goofy but still so hot, I was drawn in and hooked immediately! The second half of the book sorta lost the plot for me and went in a totally unexpected direction! It was still fun, but felt like a much different vibe compared to how it started. 

Though it’s super fun and smutty, there are still some heavier topics discussed, and the author portrayed grief and trauma in a really powerful way. Make sure you read the content warnings - this is definitely not a book to go into completely blind! 

Definitely recommend as an intro to dark romances, it felt really easy to enjoy and just get lost in the sauce a bit! 

Such an incredible continuation of Raiders of the Arcana series! While I did find the book quite dense just due to the amount of history brought into the pages, I think Jacquelyn does an amazing job of bringing in factual bits of history along with the magic of the story.

The addition of Connie and Neil to the crew was PERFECT - their dynamic is hilarious and I’m obsessed with Constance. Sayyid and Zeinab were also new additions that really rounded out the group dynamics! I love the way that women are written in this series - there is such a strong focus on the strength and intelligence of women, and I love how each character pushes back against oppression and patriarchal expectations in different ways. 

Ellie and Adam’s slow burn love story is killing me in the best way. While we didn’t get as much alone time with them, the tension was just delicious and I am SO excited to see where their story takes them!